Mariela Atanassova
System Transformation/Strategic Innovation/Facilitation at Chôra Foundation- Claim this Profile
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Ioana Guiman
I have observed what Mariela does during events a number of times and I've seen the results of her team's work. Each and every time I was deeply impressed of the ability to visually outline (LIVE) in a highly structured and abstract way what has been discussed throughout a couple of full days' conference/workshop/event. Recently I've had the chance of working with her on one of my company's events and gone with her through the entire preparation phase as well. It was a unique experience, exceeding all expectations. She is definitely not someone ticking items off a list, she puts in all effort to get the results she's after. She can imagine the whole thing upfront and she can make it happen. Just because she can do it and just because she cares. Top qualities: analytical, creative, caring, patient, engaging, organised, daring, clear, dedicated, savvy of a rich mix of areas such as human behaviour, patterns, complex systems, nature etc, which gives her the ability to instantly make unusual, but obvious (once stated) connections.
Daniel Marovitz
Mariela has a unique skill- and it could be argued that she has created a new business discipline. What Mariela does is somewhat difficult to describe to someone who has not seen it performed- but nobody who witnesses it can fail to be anything but amazed. A simplified characterisation would be to say that Mariela synthesises meeting content- graphically. She takes the course of a complex, often highly technical conversation and distills it to a few graphical, often metaphorical images that she draws, in real time, on a board in the room. This serves several purposes: 1) People remember images better than words- so a complex conversation becomes a simple picture. The power of Nike advertising in a business meeting- if you will. 2) Mariela, because she is a highly intelligent person with background in technology, banking, and life sciences often takes the conversation to a new place in her graphical depiction- she summarises in a way that elevates and enriches the dialogue that just happened. 3) It creates an easy way to market or explain the contents of a long media to people who didn't attend- rather than ask them to watch a 3 hour video, read 20 pages of notes, you show them 5 pictures that capture the problems, discussions, and decisions. That is HUGELY powerful stuff Mariela does meeting facilitation in a way that is unique. I have been the victim of many different types of facilitations over the years- often not helpful, occasionally, distracting or even destructive. Mariela's approach is not intrusive, it is light, approachable, structured, but also breathtakingly creative. It is hard to image that meeting facilitation can be "breathtakingly creative" I know. Seems impossible. Hire Mariela. See for yourself.
Ioana Guiman
I have observed what Mariela does during events a number of times and I've seen the results of her team's work. Each and every time I was deeply impressed of the ability to visually outline (LIVE) in a highly structured and abstract way what has been discussed throughout a couple of full days' conference/workshop/event. Recently I've had the chance of working with her on one of my company's events and gone with her through the entire preparation phase as well. It was a unique experience, exceeding all expectations. She is definitely not someone ticking items off a list, she puts in all effort to get the results she's after. She can imagine the whole thing upfront and she can make it happen. Just because she can do it and just because she cares. Top qualities: analytical, creative, caring, patient, engaging, organised, daring, clear, dedicated, savvy of a rich mix of areas such as human behaviour, patterns, complex systems, nature etc, which gives her the ability to instantly make unusual, but obvious (once stated) connections.
Daniel Marovitz
Mariela has a unique skill- and it could be argued that she has created a new business discipline. What Mariela does is somewhat difficult to describe to someone who has not seen it performed- but nobody who witnesses it can fail to be anything but amazed. A simplified characterisation would be to say that Mariela synthesises meeting content- graphically. She takes the course of a complex, often highly technical conversation and distills it to a few graphical, often metaphorical images that she draws, in real time, on a board in the room. This serves several purposes: 1) People remember images better than words- so a complex conversation becomes a simple picture. The power of Nike advertising in a business meeting- if you will. 2) Mariela, because she is a highly intelligent person with background in technology, banking, and life sciences often takes the conversation to a new place in her graphical depiction- she summarises in a way that elevates and enriches the dialogue that just happened. 3) It creates an easy way to market or explain the contents of a long media to people who didn't attend- rather than ask them to watch a 3 hour video, read 20 pages of notes, you show them 5 pictures that capture the problems, discussions, and decisions. That is HUGELY powerful stuff Mariela does meeting facilitation in a way that is unique. I have been the victim of many different types of facilitations over the years- often not helpful, occasionally, distracting or even destructive. Mariela's approach is not intrusive, it is light, approachable, structured, but also breathtakingly creative. It is hard to image that meeting facilitation can be "breathtakingly creative" I know. Seems impossible. Hire Mariela. See for yourself.
Ioana Guiman
I have observed what Mariela does during events a number of times and I've seen the results of her team's work. Each and every time I was deeply impressed of the ability to visually outline (LIVE) in a highly structured and abstract way what has been discussed throughout a couple of full days' conference/workshop/event. Recently I've had the chance of working with her on one of my company's events and gone with her through the entire preparation phase as well. It was a unique experience, exceeding all expectations. She is definitely not someone ticking items off a list, she puts in all effort to get the results she's after. She can imagine the whole thing upfront and she can make it happen. Just because she can do it and just because she cares. Top qualities: analytical, creative, caring, patient, engaging, organised, daring, clear, dedicated, savvy of a rich mix of areas such as human behaviour, patterns, complex systems, nature etc, which gives her the ability to instantly make unusual, but obvious (once stated) connections.
Daniel Marovitz
Mariela has a unique skill- and it could be argued that she has created a new business discipline. What Mariela does is somewhat difficult to describe to someone who has not seen it performed- but nobody who witnesses it can fail to be anything but amazed. A simplified characterisation would be to say that Mariela synthesises meeting content- graphically. She takes the course of a complex, often highly technical conversation and distills it to a few graphical, often metaphorical images that she draws, in real time, on a board in the room. This serves several purposes: 1) People remember images better than words- so a complex conversation becomes a simple picture. The power of Nike advertising in a business meeting- if you will. 2) Mariela, because she is a highly intelligent person with background in technology, banking, and life sciences often takes the conversation to a new place in her graphical depiction- she summarises in a way that elevates and enriches the dialogue that just happened. 3) It creates an easy way to market or explain the contents of a long media to people who didn't attend- rather than ask them to watch a 3 hour video, read 20 pages of notes, you show them 5 pictures that capture the problems, discussions, and decisions. That is HUGELY powerful stuff Mariela does meeting facilitation in a way that is unique. I have been the victim of many different types of facilitations over the years- often not helpful, occasionally, distracting or even destructive. Mariela's approach is not intrusive, it is light, approachable, structured, but also breathtakingly creative. It is hard to image that meeting facilitation can be "breathtakingly creative" I know. Seems impossible. Hire Mariela. See for yourself.
Ioana Guiman
I have observed what Mariela does during events a number of times and I've seen the results of her team's work. Each and every time I was deeply impressed of the ability to visually outline (LIVE) in a highly structured and abstract way what has been discussed throughout a couple of full days' conference/workshop/event. Recently I've had the chance of working with her on one of my company's events and gone with her through the entire preparation phase as well. It was a unique experience, exceeding all expectations. She is definitely not someone ticking items off a list, she puts in all effort to get the results she's after. She can imagine the whole thing upfront and she can make it happen. Just because she can do it and just because she cares. Top qualities: analytical, creative, caring, patient, engaging, organised, daring, clear, dedicated, savvy of a rich mix of areas such as human behaviour, patterns, complex systems, nature etc, which gives her the ability to instantly make unusual, but obvious (once stated) connections.
Daniel Marovitz
Mariela has a unique skill- and it could be argued that she has created a new business discipline. What Mariela does is somewhat difficult to describe to someone who has not seen it performed- but nobody who witnesses it can fail to be anything but amazed. A simplified characterisation would be to say that Mariela synthesises meeting content- graphically. She takes the course of a complex, often highly technical conversation and distills it to a few graphical, often metaphorical images that she draws, in real time, on a board in the room. This serves several purposes: 1) People remember images better than words- so a complex conversation becomes a simple picture. The power of Nike advertising in a business meeting- if you will. 2) Mariela, because she is a highly intelligent person with background in technology, banking, and life sciences often takes the conversation to a new place in her graphical depiction- she summarises in a way that elevates and enriches the dialogue that just happened. 3) It creates an easy way to market or explain the contents of a long media to people who didn't attend- rather than ask them to watch a 3 hour video, read 20 pages of notes, you show them 5 pictures that capture the problems, discussions, and decisions. That is HUGELY powerful stuff Mariela does meeting facilitation in a way that is unique. I have been the victim of many different types of facilitations over the years- often not helpful, occasionally, distracting or even destructive. Mariela's approach is not intrusive, it is light, approachable, structured, but also breathtakingly creative. It is hard to image that meeting facilitation can be "breathtakingly creative" I know. Seems impossible. Hire Mariela. See for yourself.
Experience
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CHÔRA Foundation
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Netherlands
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Civic and Social Organizations
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1 - 100 Employee
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System Transformation/Strategic Innovation/Facilitation
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Jul 2020 - Present
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RegGenome
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United Kingdom
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Internet Publishing
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1 - 100 Employee
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Interaction design and Facilitation
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Mar 2021 - Present
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The Future Farm
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United Kingdom
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Health, Wellness & Fitness
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Curriculum and Programms
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Apr 2019 - Present
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Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Cambridge Judge Business School
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United Kingdom
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Research Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Associate Researcher
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Aug 2019 - Present
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Group Flow
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Brussels Area, Belgium
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Group facilitator and interaction designer, Owner
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Mar 2013 - Present
Helping groups work better, learn, create and innovate. I design environments and processes that make it easy and natural for people to collaborate. Contact me for: - workshops and events with the purpose of: >idea generation, creative thinking, new product development >customer engagement, identifying unexpressed needs >team engagement and effective problem solving, decision making >strategic discussions with multiple stakeholders - large group interactions - graphic facilitation - designing immersive learning experiences - innovative interactive events - innovation management processes, tools and culture Show less
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FTS Group
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Portugal
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Financial Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Co-Founder
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Mar 2015 - Present
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Rainmaking
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Denmark
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Technology, Information and Internet
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1 - 100 Employee
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Strategy consultant and Facilitator
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2015 - Present
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Anthemis Group
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United States
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Financial Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Associate
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Sep 2014 - Present
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TASC - The Academy for Smarter Communities
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Copenhagen Area, Denmark
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Curriculum designer and Trainer
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Mar 2018 - Jul 2020
Helping city leaders address the challenges of digitisation through specially designed masterclasses for municipalities and regions. Helping city leaders address the challenges of digitisation through specially designed masterclasses for municipalities and regions.
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Startupbootcamp FinTech
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United Kingdom
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Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
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1 - 100 Employee
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Advisor
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Feb 2014 - Aug 2019
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Muto Labs
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London, United Kingdom
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Evangelist
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Mar 2016 - Dec 2017
Transforming value. Connecting humans and algorithms. Unlocking new assets. Democratising investments. Experimenting with the latest technology. We are a paradigm shift in the investment and asset management sectors. Launching, June 2016. https://twitter.com/MutoLabs Transforming value. Connecting humans and algorithms. Unlocking new assets. Democratising investments. Experimenting with the latest technology. We are a paradigm shift in the investment and asset management sectors. Launching, June 2016. https://twitter.com/MutoLabs
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Swift
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Belgium
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Financial Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Innovation Facilitator, co-founder Innotribe
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Nov 2008 - Jan 2014
Change agent, responsible for instilling an innovation culture within the company. Facilitating learning, stimulating creativity and nurturing an environment conductive to generating disruptive ideas. As one of the 4 Innotribe founders, setting up and running the first collaborative innovation programme within the financial industry (http://www.innotribe.com).My speciality is designing and facilitating productive group interactions: turning meetings, events, conferences, offsites, trainings into effective collaborative and fun experiences, where all participants are able to contribute and interact. This I do both within my company, and externally involving different stakeholders from the financial industry.My goal during each workshop is to create an environment where "group think" is transformed into " group flow".In my practice I use a diverse palette of tools, models, methodologies and processes, including creativity techniques, facilitation, visual techniques and graphical facilitation, design thinking and complex systems principles.Goal in life : change our perception and daily experience of work, so that no one ever tolerates boring, ineffective meetings. Show less
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Product Management
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2008 - Nov 2008
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Internal Auditor - Technology audit
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Jan 2006 - Nov 2008
As part of a team of Internal auditors responsible for providing reasonable assurance of the functioning of internal controls in all various technology and business areas of the organisation. Specialized in risk-based audit, with a focus on business processes and legal and security risks.
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Information security policy specialist
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Apr 2004 - Dec 2005
Responsible for managing and updating the Information security policy framework in line with ISO17799.Computer forensic specialist, involved in incident followup and investigation.
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Information security specialist
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Jun 1998 - Apr 2004
Responsible for conducting security risk assessment and defining security architecture and requirements for projects; Implementing and managing security tools - intrusion detection and antivirus. Handling visus incidents, and securty incident investigations.Specialities: application level security and security patterns, attack-tree analysis techniques; malware, computer forensics, IT Law (EU).Certified Checkpoint firewall administrator.
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Education
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1994 - 1999
Vesalius College - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
BES, Computer engineering, Chemistry
Community
